NBCU's Revamped Bluprint Draws Up An E-Commerce Future For The Media Giant

Lost amid last year's Comcast bids to buy Fox and Sky was the continuing transformation of a much smaller acquisition that may have big impacts on the pay-TV giant as it leverages e-commerce and community to unlock revenue and connect more deeply with audiences.

That smaller acquisition was Craftsy, which provided video lessons on traditional crafts and hobbies such as sewing, knitting and woodworking, and sold supplies to help pursue those crafts and hobbies. The Denver-based site sold in May 2017 for a reported $230 million, peanuts compared to the roughly $55 billion that Comcast spent to buy all of Sky last summer, and possibly less than what it spent in its failed bid for most of 21st Century Fox.

But even as those mega-deals were playing out, Comcast's NBCUniversal was restructuring and rebranding Craftsy into Bluprint, expanding the site's range of offerings and transforming the site into a subscription video-on-demand service.

Bluprint has ventured into such new categories as photography, writing, dance and yoga. And most importantly, the company is beefing up an already notable e-commerce operation to better service not just Bluprint but other NBCU operations.

This week, NBCU finished the first phase of the Bluprint transition, ending the last vestiges of Craftsy's transactional VOD sales while "combin(ing) the spirit of Craftsy with the magic of Bluprint," as the site puts it.

To use a Hollywood-style triangulation, think of Bluprint as Hobby Store Meets YouTube Meets Local Extension Classes, though it's clear NBCU executives have much bigger hopes.

The site – which can be found on the web and most major mobile and connected-TV platforms – mixes the traditional "Three Cs" of Content, Community and Commerce with a fourth, Celebrities/Influencers, said Bluprint CEO and co-founder John Levisay. The rebrand and shift to SVOD were designed to encompass a broader range of creative pursuits while also creating a stickier fan experience.

"The problem with that (transactional VOD) model was that none of us are uni-dimensional," said Levisay. "You may want to take that photography class, but then you're like, 'Gosh, I really want tolearn Thai cooking, or take afitness class, or just watch a lean-back kind of inspirational series on a painter.'"

Creating more lean-back content also will help keep audiences coming back. The approach is paying off, with SVOD customers on average watching lessons across five categories, instead of the previous focus on one main area of interest, Levisay said.

That sampling may lead to a more robust e-commerce play too. As part of that, the company has created a line of "get-started" boxes of supplies for people wanting to try a new creative pursuit, said Dave Howe, NBCU president of strategy and commercial growth.

"The challengewithpeople finding hobbies is they just don't know where to begin," Howe said. "They don't have any kind of roadmap of where to start, and theystumble around. This isa structured learning opportunity in a fun way that gives you access to the world's experts in those categories, and materials, anda plan and a roadmap and a blueprint."

Bluprint is one of numerous NBCU experiments with online video in entertainment, news and sports, Howe said. What makes Bluprint different is its reach beyond TV's traditional reliance on ad dollars and affiliate fees.

"The object of the exercise is to explore new revenue streams, primarily digital, that are complimentary and strategically fit withthe business that we're in now," said Howe. "Where we see an opportunity, especially in the direct-to-consumer digital space, is in the new revenue streams around e-commerce and subscriptions. Those direct-payment opportunities give us a relationship with the consumer that provides a lot of data (and) real insights into consumer behavior. It enables us to build that into our core content business... in a way that's very organic."

NBCU is "very interested" in other companies with strong community and e-commerce components, Howe said, even as it's looking to build those into its existing shows and networks in a fashion similar to what Bluprint already has.

"Once you have that scale, you can basically leverage that direct relationship to grow new revenue streams, that's what we're doing," Howe said. "We started in the content space, and potentially, we're going to builda sizable e-commerce capability across the whole company, because it makes sense."

The Bluprint fulfillment operation and warehouse in Indianapolis now can store and ship merchandise from other parts of NBCU, such as gear sold through the sports division, Howe said. It's also developing more private-label products that provide higher margins and exclusivity.

"What's new about this is we're now creatingproducts thatare slightly less based on the TV content and more based on consumer needs and lifestyle, consumer products and opportunities that are still organic to the content that we're making, but aren't just brandedTop Chefknives or other productswhich aremore obvious," Howe said.

Expect even more expansion as the company settles strategic issues such as whether to add categories such as music production and sports coaching, or duplicate what it has in languages such as Spanish, German and Portuguese, Levisay said.

Bluprint subscriptions are $7.99 a month, or $79.99 a year. Buy an annual membership and you get to keep one instructional video per month, a model similar to Audible's. Levisay declined to release subscriber data but said signup growth has been "very strong" and retention "great."

The company is also cross-promoting its talent with NBCU's traditional broadcast and cable networks, from a monthly segment (typically focused on cooking or baking) on the Today show, to appearances on reality shows such as Making Itand the Kardashians and Real Housewives franchises.

In turn, stars from the TV side, such as Al Roker in a backyard grilling video, have appeared on Bluprint programming. Many celebrities have personal passions such as cooking or painting that have nothing to do with what made them famous. They're ideal guests for the site,, but Levisay promises to be discriminating.

"As we continue to work with NBCU, we will up the level on the Fourth C even more but there has to be an authenticity there," Levisay said. The relationship with NBCU has "given us better access to vertical celebrities and those who transcend their given category. (But) I don't ever want to have someone on the platform who's a celebrity for celebrity's sake."

The next step is to help that home-grown talent drive more merchandise sales and engagement, said Howe.

"Rather than letting our own talent figure out how to how to build businesses off the back of the fame that we provide, we're looking at how we can also do that in tandem or how we can help them do that and give them ways to build those businesses," Howe said.

With a 4,000-title library with 1,300 classes, five production studios in Denver, and access to more studios in New York and Los Angeles, the company is now routinely creating a wide range of fresh content.

The company also is acquiring programming from overseas libraries, primarily English-language, and is in discussions with Sky-owned Love Productions about possible U.S. versions of hit reality-show formats such as The Great Britsh Baking Show, The Great British Sewing Bee and The Great British Pottery Throwdown.

Conversely, the company is building reality formats of its own, featuring its own talent, that can be part of daytime programming for NBCU's Bravo network, Howe said. It's also bringing out revamped iOS and Android apps in the next couple of months to further expand user options and experiences.

"Just because something's educational, doesn't mean it has to be, 'Eat your vegetables,'" Levisay said. "It should be fun. These are fun pursuits."